The album of photographs taken by Luigi Pesce contains 21 views of Tehran and environs, followed by 21 views of ancient Persian sites including the Achaemenid ruins of Persepolis, the Achaemenid tombs and Sasanian reliefs at Naqsh-i Rustam near Persepolis, and the Sasanian reliefs at Tāq-e Bostān. Pesce took the earliest documented photographs of Persepolis and some of the earliest photographs of Tehran.

Luigi Pesce (1827-1864) a Neapolitan lieutenant colonel and amateur photographer, was employed by Nasir al-Din Shah, beginning in 1848, to modernize the Persian army, and eventually became commander-in-chief of its infantry. Pesce took the earliest documented photographs of Persepolis (and some of the earliest photographs of Tehran), for which he was awarded an Honorable Mention at the 1862 International Exhibition in London.

2 Linear Feet (2 boxes)

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